Here we go.

CLASS: 1 day = 2 classes (1 presentation and 1 quiz left)

GRANADA: 4 days (I can’t count Monday as a day because I arrive at the airport at 5am and our flight leaves at 7am)

My thoughts… where did the time go?!  I think I’m almost ready to come home though and see my family and friends and enjoy the rest of the summer.

Today after my morning class, I did some more souvenir shopping for people back home and now I’m practicing my speech for tonight’s Oral Spanish class.  Yikes!  Our speeches must be about our lives with our host families.  I’m spilling it all - everything from not being able to use her towels to yelling at me when I was sick because I ate yogurt.  

Tonight we’re going out for a pizza dinner after class, and tomorrow night is our dressed-up farewell dinner already!  I’ll be sure to take lots of pics.

For those of you dying to know… probably no one… but anyway, my flight lands in Chicago this Monday at 2:15 pm.  International section, terminal 5.  This was pointless, who even needs this information?!

This quote is my reference to a store owner who offered me a rug for 15 euros because I was “beautiful.”  I don’t need a rug, sir, and I’m pretty sure that’s the same price you give everyone.  I’m not easily fooled.

Since it is a non-traveling weekend, I have been able to relax in Granada with friends and do things within the city the past few days.  

On Thursday night after class, we had our celebratory July 4th dinner at a restaurant near the Alhambra called “Restaurante La Yedra Real de La Alhambra” - if you recall, the Alhambra is that big fortress/castle that sits on the mountains overlooking Granada.  We had to hike up to the restaurant but luckily it was air-conditioned (a rare treat these days!).  The meal consisted of 5 courses, but it was more of a Mediterranean food tasting than a meal, seeing as everything came out on small plates from which you sampled.  There was olive oil tasting with bread; a plate of salami, ham and goat cheese (the cheese was awful, even though I am a HUGE fan of cheese overall); tortilla de patatas (fried eggs with potatoes); chicken with spiced mashed potatoes; and for dessert, a special bread pudding, chocolate ice cream with a lemon olive oil drizzled on top (surprisingly good!), and little chocolates.  With this whole meal, we were given a sample of a different wine with each course.  One wine - I think it was called Torrealdea Rioja Reserva (2004) - was on the official “1001 Wines You Have to Try Before You Die” list, so I guess it was good I tasted it.  It was a dry white wine and very sweet and enjoyable.  Only after we were completely done eating did we realize how full we were.  

Yesterday (Saturday), Katie and I went on an all-day shopping extravaganza to start buying souvenirs for home and such, seeing as there’s only one week left in Granada!  We spent a good 7 to 8 hours shopping in the Arab markets (love those deals) and also bigger department stores.  In Granada, from the beginning of July until the end of August, there are always sales, sales, sales.  No store is full-priced during this time period, so shopping becomes a whole lot more enjoyable.  Shopping for souvenirs is always a ton of fun, and I checked off a good number of people on my gift list! :)

Today, it’s back to some homework - I have one presentation and one test left this week!

School countdown: 4 days (8 classes)

Granada countdown: 8 days!!!

Still having a blast in Spain, but things have calmed down.  I’m done traveling to far-away cities and neighboring countries, and from here on out (11 days left!!!) I will be enjoying every little thing about Granada before I leave.

This week has been full of tests, presentations and an interview (which counts as the final exam for my Oral Spanish class).  I’ve been busy studying instead of enjoying the hot weather - but the heat has also been unbearable.  It’s in the upper 90s every day and cools down a little at night, but only after like 2 am, so I can’t really enjoy that.  So combined with my really loud neighbors, it’s hard to sleep at night sometimes.  I hear that Chicago has been rainy and cold… no worries, I’ll bring the heat with me when I come home :)

Yesterday I woke up feeling kinda woozy and had a stomachache, but I had a big presentation in my 9am Culture of Spain class, so I had to suck it up.  I ate breakfast and headed to school.  As soon as I got there, however, I knew something was wrong.  I tried really hard to shake off the nauseated feeling in my stomach, but as soon as we were beginning the presentation, I had to leave the classroom, and within 30 seconds, I was throwing up in the garbage can outside :(  I am not sure where it came from, and I know for sure it wasn’t nervousness, because I am NEVER sick from being nervous.  I must have eaten something weird.  I felt sooo bad because my group had to continue the presentation without me as I sat on the floor of the hallway, alternating throwing up into the garbage next to me and trying to stomach a few bites of bread.  Luckily my teacher was understanding, and I went home to lie in bed and recover.  My host mom made me toast and gave me a lemon drink to soothe my stomach, and I slept for many hours.  Luckily that made me feel a little better, so I spent the rest of the day relaxing in my pajamas and studying for my exam.

Today I feel so much better.  Tonight we have our July 4th celebration, which I wish had real American food — totally appropriate for a July 4th party, in my opinion — but instead we’re going to a Mediterranean restaurant in the hills.  

11 days left … I just can’t believe it.

Morocco was absolutely amazing!!!

We left Friday afternoon after a torturous hot walk to find the tour bus on the other side of the city.  After finally loading everyone in, we began the long drive to Algeciras, which is the southernmost point of the Iberian Peninsula of Spain.  It was a 4 hour drive, and we made a stop in Málaga to rest and buy some snacks.  As luck would have it, the bathrooms weren’t working at the gas station and the prices for food were ridiculous.  We continued onwards to Algeciras with a crazy bus driver who decided to take a road full of construction, so the entire trip felt like a ride at Disney World.  We finally made it to the coast, and took the (very very cool) ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Ceuta, which is still considered to be a part of Spain.  Customs was insane!  We had to sit in the bus while our guides took away our passports to be stamped and then we all got out to be checked for swine flu… this consisted of a highly technical procedure.  In other words, a man with no front teeth pointed a thermometer at our forehead and deemed that we were all healthy.  What?!  

We continued our trip to Tétouan, where our hotel was located.  We checked in, got our rooms and headed back downstairs for dinner.  More luck for me - dinner was 3 courses (yum!) but the main course was fish filet.  Katie (my hotel roomie) and I don’t eat fish, so we asked if there was another option.  The chef made us cheese omelettes!  After dinner, we showered and headed to bed… too exhausted to hang out with each other like we had planned!

On Saturday we ate a traditional Moroccan breakfast (basically tons of bread with honey and tea) and loaded up the bus to explore the city we were staying in.  We took a tour of the “medina” (the center of an Arabian city) where there were fresh markets, animals all over, and lots of vendors selling random things.  The first 15 minutes were full of really brutal smells - freshly killed chickens and fresh fish.  After the tour, we had a typical lunch inside a restaurant in the medina; we ate couscous with chicken and a hot soup.  One annoying thing about Morocco is that you can’t drink the tap water, so at every meal we had to keep buying water bottles or glass bottles of soda.  At the restaurant, a few of us got henna done on our arms for only 2 euros.

We then departed to Tánger via bus, where we explored that medina as well.  Every medina is pretty different, but this one was full of bigger stores and pushier people trying to sell you souvenirs.  After one free hour for shopping and looking around, we headed back to the hotel for dinner and showers.  Bed followed soon after - we were exhausted from such a long day!

Sunday was much shorter in terms of site seeing… we went to Chef-Chaouén after breakfast to have another guided tour through that medina.  Chef-Chaouén is very different than Tétouan and Tánger because it is more decorated in the traditional Arabian style of white and blue paintings on the buildings and blue doors.  We did more shopping - I’d had enough shopping by this point, if you can believe it - and then had lunch in a hotel nearby.  Some sketchy soup, a few pieces of vegetables, and a very tasty fruit cup later, and I was all set to go.  

The trip back took forever, between the long bus ride to the coast of Morocco, then the ferry across to Spain, then the 4 hours on a bus to Granada.  Plus we had to walk 45 minutes home at midnight.  I am so tired!    I think I say that a lot but no worries… I’m still loving Spain :)

Exactly 2 weeks till my return to Chicago!